Is scholarly consensus required in the critique of narrators?

Question:
May Allah reward you. This questioner asks: Is consensus required in the critique of narrators? He probably means the critique and vindication of narrators. This is among the matters of the memorizers of hadith.

Answer:
This is among the matters of the memorizers of hadith. Consensus is not a condition for it. It is not a condition that they agree that a certain narrator is defective. Rather, the one who affirms takes precedence over the one who denies. So the one who vouches for him is the one who denies [the defect], and the one who has a defect to report is the one who affirms, and he takes precedence. Yes.